Help me with a graphics card please

lakersfankb81

Distinguished
Nov 26, 2012
11
0
18,510
I have an ASUS Essentio CM6870-US-3AB desktop. I have installed an additional 128gb SSD alongside the 2 TB drive already in the computer. It has 16gb RAM, Intel's i7-3770 processor and an Intel HD 4000 graphics card. I use my desktop on an LG 50" 1080p 3D plasma (PZ550) as a main display through VGA (HDMI looked really bad for some reason?) and an hp 22" monitor (w2207) as a secondary through DVI. I play some games and watch a lot of tv & movies but was looking to upgrade my graphics card so that it can handle newer games like Black Ops 2, Assassins Creed 3, Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Crysis, while also allowing me to watch 3D movies. The power supply is 300w. Can anyone recommend a good graphics card that would suit my computer and needs? Would i need to uprgade the power supply?

Im not the most tech savvy person but i do like to think i know a decent bit. I could be wrong of course. But any help in this matter would be much appreciated. If you need any more info on my setup please let me know.

Also on a side note, any way i might be able to hook up my hd-dvr from rcn to record tv from it?
 
If you want to put any decently powerful graphics card in, you will have to upgrade the PSU. Otherwise the most you could put in there would be a 7750, which is the lowest end of the current AMD lineup.

Budget would be good, as I cant suggest something like a 670 or HD7970 if you only have $200 to play with.

No idea.
 

ttcboy

Distinguished
Jul 14, 2006
436
0
18,860
The good news is that you have 2 additional PCI-E x16 slots so u can install graphic cards.

The bad news is that u will need to buy a new PSU.

What is your budget for ur new card ?

Another thing is that if you want to watch 3D content on ur TV, u must use HDMI version 1.4 cable. Old 1.3a cables won't work.
 

lakersfankb81

Distinguished
Nov 26, 2012
11
0
18,510
awesome thanks for your quick replies!
any recommendations what type of PSU i should get? power? brand?
budget wise not really sure. dont really want to spend more than 300 but i will if it is absolutely necessary.
thanks for the tip on hdmi cables also.

would i also need any additional cooling hardware? is the ASUS Q-fan enough?

also @manofchalk...it sounds like you recommend AMD over nVidia?

would i still need such a powerful card if i took away wanting 3D viewing or would i be able to do that anyways because of the games i play?
 

ttcboy

Distinguished
Jul 14, 2006
436
0
18,860
For a single card system, a 550W PSU is plenty. Good brand to get are Corsair, Seasonic and XFX.

ASUS Q-Fan?

I do most of the time yes, right now they perform over Nvidia cards at near every price point. Though given that AMD and Nvidia are currently battling it out with driver updates and the Kepler series cards will have to drop in price soon, that may change quite quickly.
 

ttcboy

Distinguished
Jul 14, 2006
436
0
18,860
ASUS Q-fan is the program that control all the fans that connected to the motherboard fan header like CPU & chasis fans except GPU fans. It is not a piece of hardware.

You can set the different fan speeds for different temperature for ur chasis and cpu.

Since ur CPU is non overclock version, intel's stock cooler is more then enough.
 

lakersfankb81

Distinguished
Nov 26, 2012
11
0
18,510


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102999
this is listed at $180 after rebates right now w/ a download of far cry 3 included
i assume this is a good deal then and will be able to handle what i am looking for?

what would be the bonuses to getting a new PSU and even higher level card?
im not familiar with what exactly overclocking is or how to do it with the processor or graphics card btw.

@ttcboy okay great thanks for clearing that up for me.

@manofchalk ok just wondering because from what ive seen on different reviews AMD customers seeemed to have more trouble with crashes on some cards?

thanks to everyone for all the feedback and help!!
 
Thats a 7850 versus the 7870 Nastyid linked to. Its a weaker card, though it will still perform adequately for 1080p gaming. The 7870 should also come with Far Cry 3, all AMD cards (except the 7750) do with the current Never Settle deal.

Bonus to a new PSU over the 300W you have, being able to support a graphics card outright.
Bonus to a higher end graphics card, more FPS at higher settings in a nutshell. Get a prettier image while still having a smooth frame rate.

The myth that AMD drivers are inferior/crash more/perform worse/lower quality compared to Nvidia is just that, a myth.